Monday, January 3, 2011

A New Year and a Blank Page

I have a not-so-secret habit; I collect blank journals. Well, I don't actually collect them, like I don't seek them out and try to acquire sets or certain ones; I just like them and buy them without necessarily any thought of how or if I'm going to fill them. Starting when I was a kid and up until my mid-twenties, I kept a journal and I was often on the lookout for just the right book to use; it had to have a sewn binding that would lay flat and it had to be pretty. It didn't necessarily have to fit in my purse but that was a plus.

I started out with silk-covered ruled journals I bought at a store stocking Chinese imports, then in middle school I had an ugly book with a picture of wood ducks on the cover. The cover was a sickly yellow colored waterproof plastic with a cheap paper illustration glued on. I wrote prolifically just to finish that book! Sometimes I'd even write about how much I hated it. My favorite journal was a large book, probably 7x12 inches or so, with unlined ivory pages and covered in a beautiful, silky red floral fabric. That journal lasted throughout college and was an absolute pleasure to write in. The large size and the unruled paper meant I could really unfurl my thoughts across its pages without the limitations of a cramped size or straight lines. I've never found anything like it.

I stopped keeping a written journal sometime in my mid-twenties but I still like my blank books. And I'll buy them, whether or not I plan to use them. Or, rather, I almost always plan to use them. I have one book I titled "Gardening," and in which I actually kept gardening notes- for about a month, until I realized I actually have no interest in gardening. There are several that I started for writing poetry, or for writing a novel, but I do my novel-writing on my computer and barely use the notebooks even for notes. A success story- I won a beautiful leather-bound blank book in a giveaway from Karen of Scobberlotch, just for the purpose of writing notes and ideas for a novel and I've actually used it just for that.

But most stories don't end so well. I keep a small Moleskine journal in my purse and I use that for shopping notes or ideas when I'm out but that's not even a quarter full and I've had it for over a year. It seems like there are stacks of blank books all over the house. One I use for notes for work- ideas, brainstorming and so forth- but the glue on the binding gave out about half way through and I actually picked up my old Gardening notebook to take its place. But most of them are just... blank. Or I've written in one or two pages. But I keep buying them anyway, because they're beautiful or they appeal to me or I just think, someday I'm going to do something wonderful with this book. Maybe this is the year!

22 comments:

This sheds new light on your post about the Moleskine Book Journal! But I also had to laugh because just yesterday I was in one of those contemplative moods and thought I might start a journal. I have plenty of blank ones around too, although I tend to get them as work-related "SWAG" so they are emblazoned with a vendor logo and not nearly as pretty. And even though I think I should start a journal, if you ask me in 3 months I will probably have slacked off. Oh well !

Your post reminded me of a blank book I received as a gift from my best friend in college. He had inscribed the end papers with an elaborate bit of artwork and a note. The book was small but elegant with thick parchment-like pages. I filled those pages with journal entries, ideas, doodles... When the book was finished, I had so enjoyed having something like that, that I went and bought another one; but somehow the next book wasn't "magic." It never inspired me to be creative and it ended up being full of to-do lists! Maybe the key to filling a book is tuning into it's magic! Or maybe I need to have my friend send me another book :-)

I used to have a serious problem with blank journals. I just loved them and would buy them non-stop with this foolish idea that I would do something awesome with them. Of course, it didn't stop with blank journals, I also bought binders and folders and college-ruled notebooks and little note-taking paper. Really it comes down to writing and organizing accessories. I adore them. I finally broke the habit when I realized that I had an entire wardrobe full of what is essentially office supplies.

I also tend to buy a lot of blank journals and notebooks. Some of them are quite pretty, but I usually don't utilize them enough. Friends buy them for me, I buy them myself, and I come into possession of a lot of them every year. I have good intentions to use them, but that usually only lasts a couple of pages, and then I am back where I started. I am glad to hear that I am not alone!

i have some beautiful journals, and received two more as gifts for christmas. they tend to be gifts. the husband even inscribed a few. and a few i've even written in. but i have never ever journaled. i have used pages for poetry and notes.. but mainly i have fat little notebooks of little consequence in my bag or scraps stacked from note-taking. there is something about those blank pages... and yet my husband fills his moleskines (of every size) beautiful script and quick but lovely sketches. i should probably work hard to fill one this year...so i can keep receiving them as gifts as journals are marvelous things to have empty pages or no.

I seek out blank page journals too. Use them as a kind of commonplace book, with occasional diary-type entries and notes for writing at the back.

Works for me. Fitting in my bag is one criteria - I do a 45 min train trip several times a week, need to have one on hand. Not to mention the book I am reading. Handbags, though, are a whole other topic

blank books are great even just to keep a list then at least everything is in one place. I have several small ones for book writing notes too. I just don't look at them enough to then go to my computer and write.

I was never addicted to buying journals myself, but as I was never subtle about my intentions to be a writer, for several birthdays in a row I got piles of beautiful blank books. A few of them I've used over the years, but I now have a stack of them I'm contemplating getting rid of, but it makes me sad because they're pretty and I still remember who gave me each one.

You made me laugh talking about the ugly duck journal and the gardening journal. Love it!

When I was in my 20s I tossed all of my old journals (spiral notebooks) in the trash because they embarrassed me. I swore I wouldn't write a journal again, but then I read my great-aunt's journal after she passed away. It was so special to me that I started keeping a journal for my boys to read someday. The only problem is I haven't written in it for at least two years. Maybe I should buy a new one as inspiration. :)

It is definitely not safe for me in the journal section of the bookstore. I just love them - all the beautiful covers. Sometimes I can resist but more often than not I come home with a new one and not usually with a reason to use it either. lol.

I love journals too. I also used to keep a daily journal but stopped about 5 years ago. I use the journals I buy now at the office, to take notes during meetings. I also use one to jot down reading notes or books I want to try that I might hear about in conversation, in a news article, or whatever. There are definitely worse things you could collect! Ha!

I loooooove blank books! I've never succeeded in using them regularly, though, and usually end up writing a few pages and then leaving the rest blank. Over the past few months I've been writing down book quotes I really like, which is actually working for me! I'm hoping I've found a use for blank books that will justify me buying them, since I've kind of put a ban on myself as of late. Good luck using yours!